PlayStation 4 Critic Reviews

Daymare: 1998 is a game that, far from reaching the level of Resident Evil remakes, still deserves a chance from fans of the survival horror genre for the efforts of differentiation and depth of its created universe. A great debut for Invader Studios.

Built upon the basis laid by the Resident Evil Franchise, Daymare adds its own new ideas to the mix to present a game that, despite some technical issues and bugs, fully catches the essence of Capcom's franchise and delivers a solid survival horror game.

While not perfect, Daymare is a really good indie survival horror that all horror fans should check out.

Daymare: 1998 is a well-honed zombie experience that lacks originality but scratches the itch of those interested in the modern zombie game. It provides an alternate take on the traditional Resident Evil story, one that deals more harshly with the real-world consequences of investigating government science. Everything has a level of varnish, from environmental details to the documents that you read. Some of this must be counterbalanced with the fact that the game is a doppelganger. The well-crafted aesthetics also resemble the Resident Evil remakes, the Evil Within franchise, and countless others. Re-creation is many times easier than synthesis, allowing more time for attention to polish.

It cannot be denied that Daymare: 1998 comes with many flaws, but you have to appreciate what it aims to achieve. Well-crafted locations, a unique reloading system and interesting storytelling are some of the game’s highlights, but since both the game’s story and mechanics take time to get used to, it can’t be denied that those strengths are a double-edged sword.

Daymare: 1998 is a very interesting homage to the 128-bit era survival horror games, even if it struggles a bit technically on PS4. If you understand you’re going to play an indie tribute and not the next AAA horror game, you will have a good time with it.

Invader Studios has more than paid tribute to the most classic survival horror with Daymare: 1998. Unfortunately, the story that you star as a player in this play is not as interesting as the background of it, which can easily go unnoticed. However, the game has gameplay and a series of mechanics and details that do great justice to the horror titles of the 90s and, especially, to the first Resident Evil.

Daymare: 1998 is a nice old-fashioned action horror with the right atmosphere, but some poorly-implemented mechanics and technical errors bring down the overall package.

In the end, Daymare: 1998 is clearly a passion project and it definitely shows (and I absolutely love it for that). Granted, there are some bumps along the way in the gameplay and design departments, and the game itself looks like it is a generation behind current gen. However, if you can live with those things, you have a solid survival horror experience here. Just make sure you've played all the classics first!

Daymare: 1998 is a great alternative to the Resident Evil Remakes. Though it feels a little dated by today's standards, it nonetheless ends up holding its own with some great atmosphere and exploration. It's just a shame a lot of its mechanics are unnecessary and quite honestly questionable.